Saturday, April 02, 2005

BENGKEL KAT P.D

Just got back from a 5-day Bengkel in Port Dickson. Actually 4 days, since we all bumped a ride from Chetun who decided to go back to KL after the barbecue dinner on Thursday night although we were supposed to check out at noon the next day.

Bengkel apa? Bengkel Gubalan Sukatan & Soalan PTK. Ehm... harap-harap takde la soalan bocor. This is the first time our organization held this kind of bengkel since the launching of PTK 3 years ago. OK, for those uninitiated ones, PTK stands for the revered 'Peperiksaan Tahap Kecekapan', an annual exam necessarily to be taken by us orang gomen for purposes of naik gaji and/or naik pangkat. Supposed to measure our work competency, but don't even get me started on this issue! I'm foaming at the mouth already grrr....

Anyways, we had a great time, me & 3 buddies. We managed to get connecting rooms, and it almost felt like student days again, lepakking in each other's room in between sessions & staying up talking till the wee hours. I had only confided to Chetun about my personal situation, but I am now wondering if Cheti & Cheda had heard about it from other sources, because they (suspiciously) avoided asking me about my at-home matters. Nevermind.

Macam nak pecah kepala memikirkan soalan exam, but in between, we managed to squeeze in visits to the hotel's spa for a little bit of pampering. So OK, the spa is Mustika Ratu & is nothing to shout about, but we had sauna, facial, massage, lulur, mangir & the whole works. The great thing was actually taking time off FOR OURSELVES. My buddies are busy mothers with 4,7 and 5 kids respectively, so taking precious time off like this is good for them.

Anyway, the buffet line is so-so, the rooms are good & the room service is pretty fast. We got to walk along the beach late monday afternoon and it was nice to feel the sand between my toes. I felt a bit sad because I had a few times walked along the exact same beach with him not too long ago, de ja vu (we had dinners at this hotel a few times).

The very same night, we felt the tremors of the earthquake which hit Nias Island. Chetun & Cheti dok sembang on their double-bed, whilst Cheda had gone to sleep and I was almost dozing off in the other room. Suddenly I felt my bed swaying, and having experienced the same thing in Osaka last year, I got up to alert my friends. Funny thing - both Chetun & Cheti were thinking that the other person tengah goyang kaki causing their bed to shake, but both were too polite to tell the other to stop it. When I told them it was an earthquake, both jumped off the bed hehe. We only found out about the tsunami disaster on tv the next morning.

Then we found out that the organizing committee were aware of the quake, and the officer in charge had actually packed her bags and ajak friends on the committee to leave the hotel malam tu jugak. AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN ALERT THE REST OF US, NOR CALL US TO MAKE SURE WE WERE OK. Apa punya committee ni???? Kepala hanguk betoi!